It's been a while...

Hi everyone! It seems like life has really taken over the past few weeks... sorry about ignoring the blog-o for so long. It definitely was not my intention- everything else just kind of took over for a while.

That being said, I'm back! And hopefully will be updating on a much more regular basis! That "life" stuff that interfered involves a deployment... my hubby is in Afghanistan for the next four months and I'm here with my two boys trying to exist without showing too much anxiety. Life is kind of settling back down now and we're getting back into a routine after several visitors and a trip home to see family so I'm back to dealing the best way I know how- making stuff! Expect to see a lot from me in the next couple of months... haha!

In addition, my 25th birthday was on Saturday! A quarter of a century old now... and I've done a lot in that short time! I've got big plans for more to come too! My sister came down to help me celebrate- we went to the Cheesecake Factory for a delicious dinner and of course dessert!

With the birthday cards and gifts coming in, I had to make some super cute thank you cards and that is what I have to share with you today! This is the card I made for a friend that sent me some special wishes for my birthday! I had a lot of fun with this one and I am IN LOVE with the PTI In Bloom set! Thanks for looking!

The details: (all PTI unless otherwise noted)

Cardstock: dark chocolate, vintage cream, kraft, raspberry fizz

Ink: versamark, dark chocolate, vintage cream

Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, In Bloom, Floral Frenzy

Other: vintage cream twill ribbon, raspberry fizz button, twine, clear embossing powder

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #13

Hi guys! It's that time again! Time for another Raspberry Suite Color Challenge from Dawn! If you haven't checked this out yet- what are you waiting for!? She has the coolest color combos and most of them leave me scratching my head for a few days and then using colors together that I would have never thought to. And in a good way! So, I got a head start on this color challenge! I have been making time every day to create something- even if it's a super simple card that comes together in 10 minutes, and I think it's really helping me! Ideas seem to come to me a lot faster- I'm not spending as much time sitting there looking at my supplies! LOL!

Anyway, here's my card for this challenge! I used white, spring moss, berry sorbet, and pure poppy (all PTI) for this card. I started by choosing spring moss for my base- the paper is all I have from the spring moss collection right now so I thought I'd use it in a big way- and I love this color! I can't wait for the reformulated ink pads to be available on the 15th! I stamped the printed text from Background Basics: Text Style on the base with snow white ink (I can't seem to make anything with text anymore!)

I stamped polka dots with berry sorbet ink on white paper and cut out five petal shapes. I knew I wanted a floral accent and I haven't been able to get any floral focal point stamp sets yet. I layered the petals for a pretty little blossom! I think it turned out pretty well!

I also dream of pure poppy buttons, but they won't be available until the 15th, so I pulled out a red sharpie and colored the border of this white button!

The sentiment "all things grow with love" is from the Everday Button Bits set- all of the sentiments in this set are super cute!



And here's a close up of my little flower blossom!

I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with! Thanks for stopping by!

Steph

the details: (all PTI unless otherwise noted):

paper: spring moss, white, pure poppy bitty dots

ink: berry sorbet, snow white

stamps: polka dot basics, background basics: text style, everyday button bits

other: show white satin ribbon, white vintage button, fiskars treading water border punch, red sharpie

PTI BLOG HOP!

HI GUYS! It's time for another Papertrey Ink Blog Hop and I'm excited about this one! I've been using text a lot in my projects since getting the Background Basics: Text Styles set and I was eager to pull it out again and make some new cards with it for the blog hop!

For my first card (yes... I have two cards this time! I love text!) I paired scarlet jewel and smokey shadow cardstock with some Making Memories text patterned paper. I stamped the outline butterfly from Butterfly Kisses with smokey shadow ink onto the MM paper and cut it out. Then I stamped the same image in scarlet jewel ink on scarlet jewel cardstock and layered the two butterflies, attaching them with a pearl brad. I added a flourish from the Fancy Flourishes set and finished it off with a bitty dots scarlet jewel ribbon!

Details: (all PTI unless otherwise noted)

Paper: scarlet jewel, smokey shadow, wedding day patterned paper(making memories)

Ink: smokey shadow, snow white, scarlet jewel

Stamps: Butterfly Kisses, Fancy Flourishes

Other: scarlet jewel bitty dots ribbon, pearl adhesives(recollections), pearl brad(recollections)

For the next card I pulled out my new Everyday Button Bits set- I've only made a couple of cards with it so far, but it is SO MUCH FUN! And I've established quite a "collection" of buttons, if you know what I mean, so I'm happy to be able to use them so easily! I inked up my Background Basics: Text Stlye stamp with the Chamomile ink pad that comes in the Tea Dye Duo and stamped the text on vintage cream cardstock. Next, I stamped the topiary image in chocolate brown ink and added two enchanted evening buttons, tied on with some twine. Had to ink up the edges of the focal image with the Tea Dye Duo- love this product, too!

Details: (all PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper: kraft, vintage cream

Ink: tea dye duo, enchanted evening, chocolate brown

Stamps: Everyday Button Bits, Background Basics:Text Style

Other: enchanted evening buttons, twine, brown ribbon(michaels), corner rounder

Hope you like my cards! I'm off to get the kiddos to bed so I have plenty of time to browse everybody's blogs! I can't wait!

Steph

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #12!

Hi everybody! I'm back with another color challenge from Dawn McVey- check it out here! I was really excited about this color combo because she had made a card with this combo that I was admiring during the PTI release! So here's my card!

I stamped the background with the three flowers found in the Little Lady set. I stamped those flowers in raspberry fizz and scarlet jewel ink on vintage cream cardstock. Then, I matted the stamped paper with scarlet jewel cardstock. I stamped the sentiment "with thanks" with scarlet jewel ink, matted it with spring moss cardstock and tied it to the card base with scarlet jewel bitty dots ribbon. I think it came out really cute- I am really happy with it! Thanks for stopping by to check out my card!

The details: (all PTI unless otherwise noted)

Paper: vintage cream, scarlet jewel, spring moss

Ink: scarlet jewel, raspberry fizz
Stamps: little lady

Other: scarlet jewel bitty dots ribbon, pearl adhesives (michael's)

Steph

FREE beautiful cards magazine giveaway!

Hey guys! I came across this today- there's a contest on Laurel Beard's blog- you should definitely go and check it out! Deadline is July 26th! Hurry over! Oh yeah... check out her projects, too! Very cute stuff!

Steph

So excited!

SO! I'm back! It's been a few days, but I'm getting back into the swing of things! I had a great time visiting with my sister Ashley this weekend! We even had a girl day in Wilmington- it was a really nice break for me. We toured the One Tree Hill set and fantasized about stealing things.. lol.. then we went and walked around the riverfront and window shopped. Had a great crab cake dinner at a restaurant called George. Very nice day!

I had a group of cards that I was sending home with my sis to sell from her desk at work. I didn't really think I'd get too big of a response, maybe sell a card here and there. Well, Ashley called me at noon yesterday (she had been at work for only 2 hours) and told me that she had already sold 6 cards! YAY! Then, she called me on her way home and said that she had sold 14 cards total! So I got to work making some more cards- people were actually requesting different cards! That is so exciting! And it's nice to have a little extra papertrey money in my pocket! I've got quite a wish list!

So here are a couple of the cards I made to send off to her!

The first one is an anniversary card. It's a super simple layout with some patterned paper and butterflies punched out with my ms butterfly punch. I love the sentiments in PTI's wishing you set and I can't stop using them! Not that that's a bad thing!

The next one is a card I made using PTI's life set- I just got this set and I've been itching to use it for a couple of weeks! I love the new bitty box patterned paper, too! So cute! The sentiment is from Mega Mixed Messages. I stamped the background with polka dot basics and then went back and filled in some of the open polka dots with the small flower center from floral frenzy!

Hope you like the cards! Gonna be spending a lot of time crafting over the next couple of days- I'm sure I'll have more to show you!

Steph

The details (all PTI unless otherwise noted):

Butterfly Anniversary

Paper: SS white, true black, american crafts tea party pp, true black bitty dots pp

Ink: true black

Stamps: wishing you

Other: ms butterfly punch, rhinestones

wish

Paper: vintage cream, kraft, plum pudding bitty box patterned paper

Ink: pure poppy, lavender moon, copper(ms), tea dye ink duo, vintage cream

Stamps: life, mega mixed messages, polka dot basics, floral frenzy

Feeling tired!

AH! I've had a busy couple of days! My husbands brother was here visiting for a week- he left on 4th of July. It was a blast having him here- he helped us out a ton with a bunch of little things that we had to do around the house.

Then, yesterday I woke up and my eye was swollen shut... I called the doctor who told me there were no appointments available and to go to urgent care.. ugh... not fun. Anyway, I went, I finally got in at the eye doctor with a note from the urgent care doctor, and it turns out I have "severe irritation" in both eyes. How that happens overnight I have no idea.

On top of all this, my sister is coming to visit tomorrow for 5 days! So, I probably won't be on much and I'll probably miss some stuff, but I'll be back just in time for the Papertrey release! YAY! Loving the peeks, by the way!

So with all that being said- i do have a card to share tonight! LOL! I made this card for my stash- might go home with my sis- she sells my cards at her work from her desk! It's a simple card using kraft, lemon tart, and ocean tides on a ss white base. I cut out three butterflies with my martha stewart punch and adhered them with glue dots. Don't you love that bitty dots paper- so cute! Then, I added some pearl accents and drew in some little antennae with my white signo gell pen. I can't seen to make a card without hitting the edges in snow white ink anymore!

And a close up of the butterflies- I love this color combo!
The details (all PTI unless otherwise noted):
Paper: SS white, kraft, lemon tart, ocean tides, lemon tart bitty dots, ocean tides bitty dots
Ink: fresh snow
Stamps: mega mixed messages
Other: ms butterfly punch, pearl stickers, white embossing powder, heat gun, signo white gel pen

Thanks for looking everybody! Have a good one!

Steph

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #11!

Here is the challenge this week: hard, hard, hard! It took me SO FAR out of my comfort zone! No white or cream- ahhh! Well, I worked at it for a little bit and I came up with this! I really like how the finished product came out- very clean and sophisticated I think!

I used PTI's Background Basics: Text Style for this card and I have to say I am absolutely in love with this set! It takes an ordinary card to a whole new level! And it's so easy to use! Hope you like the card! Have a good day!

The details: (all PTI unless otherwise noted)

Paper: soft stone, true black, pure poppy, raspberry fizz, new leaf

Ink: true black

Stamps: Background Basics: Text Style, Mega Mixed Messages

Other: True Black Satin ribbon, black brads (michael's)

BLOG HOP!

HI! This is my first time participating in PTI's blog hop and I'm so excited! This months challenge was to find our summer inspiration and no doubt about it- my summer inspiration is 4th of July! My hubbies birthday is on July 2nd and every year it is a big celebration! One year, he even was sung "Happy Birthday" by one of the bands playing at our local 4th of July festival! It's always so much fun! And it doesn't hurt that I absolutely LOVE red and blue or that my hubby is a proud member of the US Air Force! So I browsed for a while and found some red, white, and blue papery inspiration! LOL!

And here's my card made from some 4th of July red, white, and blue inspiration!

This is a 4 1/4 square note card to give to a friend for 4th of July! I used star prints for this card and heat embossed the design with white embossing powder on navy blue paper. Finished it off with a satin white ribbon and it's ready to be sent off!

Here are the details (all PTI unless otherwise stated):

Stamps: Star Prints, Mega Mixed Messages

Paper: pure poppy, kraft, stampers select white, navy (michael's)

Ink: fresh snow

Other: white embossing powder, fresh snow satin ribbon

Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to browse everyone's blogs at the blog hop tonight!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #10

Here's the challenge this week from Dawn McVey!

The colors are so sweet and I immediately pulled out my Wishing You set and inked up those pretty tulips with berry sorbet and melon berry ink! Here's my card made with melon berry, berry sorbet, vintage cream, and dark chocolate.

I stamped the tulips radomly on 6 1" squares of vintage cream cardstock. I matted the squares with dark chocolate and berry sorbet squares of cardstock. I adhered the squares to the vintage cream card base with foam adhesive to give the card more dimension.

Then, I stamped the dragonfly outline in dark chocolate ink directly onto the card base. I also added the swirly flourish behind him! Then I colored the dragonfly's wings with a blender pen and melon berry ink.

Finally, I stamped the sentiment "MAKE A wish" onto the bottom right corner of the card in berry sorbet ink- the brackets are stamped in dark chocolate ink.

I hope you like it! I had a lot of fun with this color combo this week! I'll be back later for the PTI blog hop!

Steph

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #9

Hi! I promised my first card post and here it is! This is a card I made a few days ago for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #9! I didn't have a blog when I posted the card- I just posted it from my SCS gallery so I thought I'd share it again. I really love the way it came out- it seems very elegant to me and the color combo was so much fun!

Here's the challenge- you can check it out here!

And here's my card using new leaf, true black, and vintage cream: all from Papertrey Ink! I stamped the flourishes with vintage cream ink on true black cardsock. Then I cut the paper into strips, matted them with vintage cream cardstock and attached them to a new leaf base.
I then stamped the sentiment "Absolutely Fabulous" in true black ink onto vintage cream cardstock, matted it with true black cardstock and mounted it with foam adhesive. I added some pearl accents and the card was complete!
Here's the finished product! Hope you like it!

Here are the details (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated):

Paper: True Black, Vintage Cream, New Leaf

Ink: True Black, Vintage Cream

Stamps: Fancy Florishes, Mega Mixed Messages

Other: pearls (michael's)

Thanks for looking!

Steph

Hi There!

HI! This is my very first blog post and I'm so excited! I've been following many blogs for the past couple of months and I think I'm ready to dive in head first! A little about myself? I am a proud Air Force wife living in North Carolina. We moved here about 2 months ago and we're loving it! We're finally a DRIVE instead of a PLANE RIDE away from home which is Delaware. My husband Eric and I have two little boys, Aden (3) and Austin (1). They light up my life and bring me so much joy! It's so neat to watch them grow and I'm sure you'll hear a lot about them here on my blog! So- I will be posting a lot of cards on this blog with a happy mix of my home life and hopefully some interesting stories! I'll be back later tonight with a card post after the kids go to bed, but in the meantime here are a couple pics of the kiddos!

Here's Austin! He is 15 months old and I hate that he is growing up so fast! He is getting so big and time is just flying by!

Here's Aden- he turned 3 in May and is my little man! He asked me the other day if he could make a card! SO CUTE! He had a blast!

Thanks for taking a look at my blog! I hope you enjoy it!

Steph